Biography

Dharmata 101 was formed in 1997 by frontman/composer Jsun Bruner, after dissolving his prior project- a psychedelic folk project involving programmed rhythms called Mellow #5. Dharmata 101 was originally put together as a large deviation from the sappy, light-hearted work of Mellow #5 in the interest of making more lyric-driven music; particularly after Bruner became fascinated with Buddhist philosophy after reading “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying”. In 1999, dharmata101 finished work on its first album, “The Five Shackles”. Lacking the lyrical depth and musical composition originally intended to be the benchmark of the project, the album was shelved. Bruner then began work on his current body of work, “Protest Songs for the Content”.

The project’s style began to change after Bruner became influenced by EBM and the burgeoning futurepop scene that he was surrounded by living in Europe. In 2000, Bruner moved back to the United States and began playing the project’s first shows in small coffee shops in Idaho. In 2002, Bruner moved back to his home in Northern Virginia where he hired live guitarist Kevin Keier. After accruing a greater budget for the band, dharmata 101 self-released the original pressing of “Protest Songs For the Content” in February of 2007. After catching the attention of the DC-metro area goth/industrial scene, as well as the attention of Radio-Active-Music.com, the album was remastered and re-released with new artwork by the label in October of 2007.